Testimony

Christina Stimson: Lessons from Biblical Job

By Audra SmithThe 700 Club

CBN.com
 "The circumstances in which I grew up in were just very, very challenging," Christina Stimson said. "I got hit and yelled at quite a bit. I never really knew when the door of my room would get banged down. As a consequence of all this, I had no self esteem and no self confidence."

Christina excelled in academics, so her father insisted she become a doctor. In medical school, she met a man her parents didn’t like. But in an effort to escape her abusive home life she ignored their warnings.

"In the environment of me wanting to get married to this man; my father very much opposed this; my family very much opposed this. There was a lot of tumult, a lot of unrest, a lot of strife."

Her fiance’s mother took her to a prayer meeting at her church, where she became a Christian.

"For the first time in my life, after accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I really felt such a profound deep peace," Christina remembers. "I just knew he was real; I just knew he was real."

Christina found comfort in her new faith, but her new marriage was anything but peaceful.

"It was going from the frying pan to the fryer," she said. "He was a very controlling person. I think I was so used to being controlled; so I went from one controlling environment to another, just like I switched seats on the Titanic."

She was a successful doctor, but after 10 years of marriage, Christina learned of her husband’s consistent unfaithfulness. She also started noticing problems in her husband’s law practice.

"He lived this whole other life," Christina said. "All of a sudden we are getting thousands and thousands of dollars of IRS liens in the mail, hundreds of thousands of dollars of credit card debit."

Frightened by her husband’s illegal business practices, Christina filed for divorce and began practicing medicine in another state.

"I put one foot in the medical clinic to start working and the next thing I am diagnosed with cervical cancer from the HPV virus that I was infected with from him and his liaisons with prostitutes," Christina said. " I had severe endometriosis requiring emergency medical surgery, severe lupus with sharp chest pains that were very painful, as well as profound muscle weakness in my arms."

After 10 years of practicing medicine, Christina had to retire because of her medical conditions. Faced with these seemingly insurmountable problems, Christina cried out to the Lord.

"I remember thinking that I had the trials of Job, and saying, 'Lord, your word in Jeremiah 29:11 says “for I know the plans that I have for you; plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope." So I said, 'Lord,I am looking to you to rebuild my life,'" she recalls.

"I started memorizing scripture, going to church a lot, watching Christian TV as much as I could; just drinking in the Word of God, and bit by bit the Lord restored my life."

Christina was granted an innocent spouse verdict from the IRS and all of the credit card debits were absolved in the divorce. She was also successfully treated for the cancer and endometriosis. However, Christina’s lupus was still a major concern.

"I had a lot of hurt and anger, so I started going through Christian counseling, which really helped a lot. About that time though, I knew that there needed to be healing with my mother," she said. "After many years of not talking to my mother, I am going to call her and tell her I love her; and I asked for forgiveness of anything I did.”

"Well, the Lord was working on my mom and this turned out to be the biggest blessing because we healed on the phone," Christina shared. "We asked for forgiveness of one another. And the moment that we did that, that very moment, all of the lupus symptoms left my body and I didn’t have to take one pill again for the lupus."

Today, Christina is remarried and has the marriage she always dreamed of. She has been living lupus free for almost 10 years and shares her story as a full-time speaker and author.

"Genesis 50:20 says that whatever the enemy intended against us for evil, God will turn around for good for the purpose of saving many souls," Christina says. "Just to speak to the brokenness that people maybe experiencing physically, emotionally, spiritually, and even financially; to say, look, if God can do this for me,what can He do for you?"